Dog Bite Statistics

Dog bite losses exceed $1 billion per year. In the past several years, there have been 30 to 35 fatal dog attacks in the USA annually. Each year, more than 350,000 dog bite victims are seen in emergency rooms, and approximately 850,000 victims receive medical attention. Data that the CDC collected in the USA between 2001 and 2003 indicated there were 4.5 million dog bite victims per year, but that figure appears to be rising.

Despite the number of victims, only 15,000 to 16,000 of them per year receive money from homeowners insurance companies and renters insurance companies. This means that out of the 850,000 who get medical attention, only two victims per 100 receive compensation. Although insurers pay over $350 million to victims, the average insurance payment for a dog bite case is only $29,752. The payouts have increased by 55.3 percent in the past decade.